Nearest Neighbors

 No, not the folks across the street.  

Two of the three nearest star systems are currently visible (with optical aid) on opposite sides of the sky.  Barnard's Star, 6 ly distant, is the second closest star system.  It shines at magnitude 9.5 in the constellation Ophiuchus, which is rising in the east in the late evening.  Wolf 359, at a distance of 7.8 ly, is the third closest star system.  It shines at magnitude 13.5 in the constellation Leo, which is setting in the west in the late evening.

Both of these nearby stars are red dwarfs.  Neither are visible to the naked eye.  Barnard's Star can be picked up with binoculars or a small telescope.  It can be visible in photographs with wide-angle lenses.  Wolf 359 is 251 times fainter and requires a large telescope or a telephoto lens under dark skies to become visible. 

The location of Barnard's Star is circled.  Panasonic Leica 12mm f/1.4

 

Barnard's Star is circled.  1:1 crop, Leica 12mm

Barnard's Star is even visible in an image taken with a super-wide fisheye lens (7Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8):

1:1 crop, 7.5mm fisheye

This is an image obtained last year (14 June 2025) with an Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens on an Olympus E-M1iii camera:

Barnard's Star.  Olympus 75mm f/1.8

 Wolf 359 is located in the constellation Leo:

Location of Wolf 359 is marked with a circle.  OM 20mm f/1.4

 Wolf 359 becomes visible in an image taken with a 135mm f/2 lens on a Sony A7iii camera:

Wolf 359 and a satellite trail

 Last year (15 June 2025) I was able to capture Wolf 359 with a Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 MF lens on an Olympus E-M1iii camera:

Wolf 359 (circled).  85mm f/1.4

 

More color

 Friday night:

Jupiter and Venus setting behind the Bristolhead ridgeline. OM 40-150mm f/4

There were passing clouds that disrupted my photographics plans, so these two shots of Scorpius and the rising Milky Way were obtained instead.  These were taken with a Sony A7iii and a Rokinon AF 85mm f/1.4 FE II lens.  They were digitally filtered in post processing with a 3x3 median filter to suppress the faint stars and emphasize the blended color patterns of the Milky Way and earthly airglow.

 

Colorful night skies

 The opening act on Thursday evening was the setting of Jupiter and Venus behind Bristol Head.  The separation between these two planets is slowly decreasing toward a close conjunction on 08 June.

Jupiter (L) and Venus (R).  Vivitar Series 1 90mm f/2.5

 Near the end of astronomical twilight, the giant globular cluster Omega Centauri can be seen skimming the southern horizon.

Omega Centauri over Piedra Peak.  Vivitar S1 90mm

 A wider view taken about 40 minutes later shows just how low the cluster is in the sky:

Omega Centauri (circled).  OM 20mm f/1.4 + sparkle-6 filter

 This wider view also reveals layers of colorful airglow.  The measured sky brightness directly overhead was sqml=21.51 mpsas, which is a good but not great value.  Airglow is the likely explanation for this brighter sky, compared to measurements in mid-May, which were near 21.8.  The airglow really stands out in pictures of the rising Milky Way.

Scorpius and Milky Way rising above Snowshoe Mountain. OM 20mm + softon

 The airglow presents as moving ripples of color in the sky, visible to the camera but not to the eye.  

 

Milky Way rising before midnight

 The forecast was for cloud cover until past midnight, but at 11 pm there were large sections of clear sky.  This image was obtained a half hour before midnight as the Milky Way was rising over the ridgeline of Snowshoe Mountain.  

Sony A7iii camera and Rokinon 135mm f/2.0 Nikon-AE lens.  ISO 1600, 30 sec.

 There is some green airglow blending with the red star clouds of the Milky Way.  In the upper left are the Eagle (M16) and Omega (M17) nebulas.  Moving down to the right there is the Sagittarius Star Cloud (M24) and then the Trifid (M20) and Lagoon (M8) Nebulas (or Nebulae, for the traditionalists).  The star cluster M23 is near the top middle edge.

The Trifid (M20) and Lagoon (M8) Nebulas

 

Blue Moonlight

 The rising Blue Moon on Sunday night was lighting up the mountain ridges while the river valley remained in deep shadow.  Venus and Jupiter are the two bright stars setting behind Bristol Head.  Lens: Panasonic Leica 12mm f/1.4 + Hoya Sparkle-6 filter.

 

Blue Moon

 The first full moon of May, known as the "Flower Moon", occurred on 01 May.  This year there was a second full moon in May.  It happened at 2:45 am MDT on 31 May (today), and could be seen rising on the evening of 30 May (last night).  The second full moon of the month is known (by one definition) as a "Blue Moon".  The Moon reaches apogee (farthest from Earth) about 18 hours later, so this full moon is also called a "Micro Moon".

These images were obtained with a Sightron infini D50 refractor on 30 May.  Official moonrise was 8:20 pm MDT, but the low arc traced by the Moon means that it didn't begin to peek through the trees above Snowshoe Mountain until about 1 hour 50 minutes later.

anticipation....

  

almost...

Evening stars

 The Evening Star (Venus) and False Evening Star (Jupiter) shine brightly over Bristol Head during twilight:

Panasonic Leica 25mm + sparkle filter

 The ridgeline is lit up by the 11.9-day waxing moon:

Rokinon 135mm f/2

 The Moon:

Sightron infini D50 + 1.5x MDB